BP Says Africa Assets Sale Still In Progress; Not Linked To Oil Spill

28th Jul 2010 12:01

MUMBAI (Dow Jones)--The sale of BP PLC's (BP) marketing businesses in Namibia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana--announced in March 2010--is still in progress, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday. The sale of the assets isn't linked to BP's recently announced sale of $30 billion in exploration and production assets to pay for damages from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, said the spokeswoman. BP's Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded in April, resulting in a massive oil spill, with BP saying in its filing with regulators that spill-related payouts could easily exceed $32 billion. Earlier Wednesday, the Press Trust of India, citing industry sources, reported that India's Reliance Industries Ltd. (500325.BY) and Essar Oil Ltd. (500134.BY) were among companies in the race to buy BP's fuel retail assets in some African countries. Reliance Industries and Essar Oil have offered $400 million to $500 million each for BP's assets in countries such as Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia, Malawi and Zambia, PTI said. "The sale of these assets has not happened yet and is still in progress," the BP spokeswoman said, adding that BP "does not comment on market speculation about bidders or potential bidders." A spokesman for Essar Oil said the company doesn't comment on market speculation, while a Reliance Industries spokesman declined to comment. According to its March statement, BP's Africa region consists of downstream operations in Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia, with about 1,760 staff. BP had said its downstream infrastructure in the region included about 29 depots and terminals, more than 800 retail sites and the largest refinery in the region, co-owned with Royal Dutch Shell PLC. -By Eric Yep, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-22-6145-6110; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 28, 2010 07:01 ET (11:01 GMT)